Young Sirius
by HermyMacGo
Summary: First steps of Sirius in Hogwarts, his encounter with James and the developing of his personality away from his family.
1. Encounter in the Hogwarts Express

Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter (but I wish I could own Sirius Black !)

AN: Well that's a very first. I have written Book 5 in my own way before it came out but I wouldn't dare publish it. I'm not a native speaker of English so please feel free to make me notice any mistakes I made. It's not a big chapter but I hope it will interest someone ! Please review !

* * *

"Come on, Sirius, move along, I don't have much time!" said an annoyed voice over the handsome, black-haired young face of Sirius Black.

Sirius breathed heavily and looked around.

It was the 1st of September and he had just entered Platform 9 3/4 for the first time. His eyes sparkled with awe as he looked the smoke rising from the big black and red train –the Hogwarts Express. Wizarding families were all around, bidding goodbye to their children, while Muggle families looked startled, keeping their children close to them as they waited for someone to help them.

"Well, son, I think it is time I leave you", said the annoyed voice again.

"Dad, wait!" answered Sirius, who, at 11, wanted to get a little comfort from his father who seemed more than annoyed of being here.

"Sirius, I'm in a hurry, you know your uncle's waiting for me back home. Besides, you've got to learn coping with new situations. You're a Black, my son. Blacks are not cowards and they can figure out things by themselves. Goodbye."

Without more explanation, Sirius' father left him alone with his luggage and disappeared.

* * *

"Are you alone?"

Sirius was interrupted in his reverie when he heard the voice of a young boy who had just popped his head inside the compartment he had settled in, all alone.

"Yes, you can come and sit if you want" Sirius said, looking more closely at his new companion.

The boy wore glasses and had a proud and self-assured look about him. He sat down opposite Sirius and extended his hand:

"I'm James."

Sirius, surprised at the boy's eagerness to make friends with him, took his hand in his:

"Sirius."

Sirius took a look at the boy's long robes and assumed he was from a wizarding family.

"So you're not from a Muggle family, huh?" He asked to start a conversation.

"Nope. You?"

Sirius looked again at James. He sure seems to be sure of himself, he thought. And not shy with that.

"No", Sirius finally answered. "You surly don't know my family for assuming I could be a Muggle", he added without thinking.

"Why are you saying that for?" asked James, curious.

"Nothing" Sirius answered quickly, wishing he could take back what he just said.

**Inside Sirius' head**:

_What a stupid thing to say, you silly boy! Now he's gonna think you're one of these intolerant, purist people! You don't wanna spoil your one chance to make friends with someone! Must be more careful about what you say!_

James looked at Sirius and took him out of his reverie once more:

"Now will you excuse me if I'm not much a conversation person today. My family threw a big party for me yesterday, first boy going to Hogwarts and all these traditions, you know. I went to bed late and I couldn't sleep, with all the exciting things ahead of us. They wouldn't tell me about this Sorting Ceremony though, so I must get some sleep just in case it's something physical, you know"

"Yeah, sure", answered Sirius, still amazed at the way his companion was at ease with someone he didn't even know yet.

James put his legs on the seat and rested his head on the window, pulling out his glasses and closing his eyes. The next minute, he was already asleep.

Sirius looked at him again and inspected him closely. For a boy of 11, James had solid muscles, he noticed. Must be the athletic type. Maybe he likes Quidditch? That would be great.

Sirius smiled to himself at the thought of Quidditch, the only thing that linked him to his family. He and his younger brother Regulus shared the passion of the Wizarding sport and that was the only thing his parents seemed to value about him. Regulus was in good terms with Mr and Mrs Black, but Sirius could not stand a conversation with them, unless it was about Quidditch. They never took the time to share a moment with their sons, always highly occupied as they were with their image in the wizarding society. For them, the only important thing was being well thought of among the wealthiest wizards. They never took care of their children and Sirius and Regulus were often left with Kreacher, the stern-looking house-elf, to spend long days at their family mansion. Sirius often spent time on the square in front of the house and had once the idea to go speak to the Muggle kids playing there, quickly making friends with them. He spent weeks with the little Muggles, careful to go out only when his father was away. But Mr Black caught him and locked him in the house, forbidding Sirius to talk to Muggles again.

Thinking about all these new things he was to live in the wizarding school of Hogwarts, Sirius was almost relieved to leave his family. His encounter with James, as much as he could talk with him before the latter fell asleep, made him realize he didn't want to be the Sirius his family wanted him to be. Away from his family, he could at last be himself. He wasn't obliged to behave like his parents told him to, always wanting him to be the good son of the great Black family and stay faithful to the Pure Blood…maybe he could even make friends with Muggles again, if there were some in Hogwarts. He missed his Muggle friends back at 12, Grimmauld Place.

Feeling suddenly tired after all this hard-thinking and the reassuring conclusion that he was free at last, Sirius put his legs on his seat and fell asleep, in a strikingly identical position as the boy who shared his compartment, James Potter.

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AN: How do you find it ? I think it's not very well-balanced, I mean, lots of talk in the first half and lots of thinking/narrative in the last part. But that's the very first story I write about Sirius, in English, and the very first I publish so...


	2. Where a true Black belongs

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but can I own a Mailing Owl ? It's always been my dream to be able to send letters to anyone for free...

AN: Here it is, a brand new chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this one, so I hope you gonna enjoy it! Thanks to you reviewers, without you I don't  
know if I would have made a second chapter...Anyway, just read it and keep reviewing !

* * *

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius suddenly woke up at the sound of his name shouted by James.

"What? What happened?" he asked, yawning and stretching his legs. He felt his body slip on the leather seat and couldn't help falling on the compartment floor.

James laughed at his dazed face and gave him a hand.

"You seem to be a heavy sleeper like me, mate. We gonna get along well together", he said.

"Well, I didn't sleep well last night neither; I just had an argument…" Sirius started, and then stopped dead in his sentence.

"An argument with whom?" James asked, curious again.

"Nah, drop it. I'm hungry!" Sirius said to fill in the sudden blank in the conversation.

"Well, that's what I woke you up for. The food trolley just passed our compartment and I wondered if you wanted to come with me grab something to eat."

"Sure".

With that the boys walked out of the compartment and set after the food trolley, chatting about their favourite food on the way.

* * *

This short moment on the Hogwarts Express helped Sirius and James make friends and when they got back to their compartment, it seemed like they've always known each other. Not only did they found out they were both food-junkies, but on their way to where the food-trolley was, they had the chance to confront their views on the most important fear of the First-Year students at Hogwarts: the house they'll be in.

The food lady was busy in a compartment when Sirius and James located her trolley, so they just waited for her to get out of the compartment to order what they wanted. After she got them the food and left, James and Sirius popped their heads inside the compartment to see what was going on inside. A beautiful, red-haired young girl with emerald eyes and a greasy-haired boy with a crooked noise were having an argument. James and Sirius looked at each other for a second and decided to settle in the compartment, curious to see what the two others were talking about –to be honest; James mostly wanted to get a better look at the girl. The two others, too busy arguing, didn't seem to notice the intruders. They managed to slip in the conversation when the boy told the girl she'd better be in Slytherin.

"Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin?" James exclaimed in a disgusted voice.

"What house do you reckon you'll be in?" asked Sirius, curious.

"Gryffindor, that's for sure, my family won't get it if I'm not sorted in the House of the Braves."

Sirius took a look at James, pleased at his new friend's aversion with Slytherin.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin. Hope I'll get a break with the tradition" he said.

A mere hour later, the boys were back in their compartment, after a much longer trolley-chasing than they would have thought.

"Didn't that red-haired girl look beautiful", James asked to Sirius who nearly choked on what he was eating.

"What? Didn't you notice who she was with?" he said in a sort of desperate cry.

"Do you know this guy?" James asked, curious about the acquaintances of his new crush.

"Snivellus Snape. My family is friends with his. When we were kids, we used to play with each other, but now that I'm kind of reluctant to please my parents, I don't go with them anymore when they visit the Snapes."

"What does he got, apart from this greasy hair and crooked nose, and his obsession with Slytherin, that's so disgusting?" James asked.

"Well, guess he's everything I despise. Muggle-hater and arrogant like my family" Sirius said with a sad voice.

"You're not happy with your family?" James had completely forgotten about Snape's friend back at the compartment and was genuinely interested in what Sirius had to say now.

"I only wish I could understand them. I feel like I've been born in a totally different family and that I've been put in the Black's mansion by mistake. But enough talking, I'm as hungry as a troll!" Sirius shortened the conversation, not too eager to share his feelings with his new friend. As distant as he was from what a true Black was, he was bashful about his feelings and above all, he didn't want to talk too much about his family.

"So do you like Quidditch?" he asked so as to definitely close the topic of his family.

"What? Are you kidding me? I'm the greatest Quidditch fan of all England!" James answered, his eyes sparkling with joy at the mention of his favourite sport of all.

The rest of the journey was spent in enthusiastic conversation about the different teams, the new brooms and the Quidditch techniques. Sirius was over-excited and, shy and self-contained as he was, he felt comfortable enough with the self-confident and effusive James to lower his guard.

* * *

It was already dark outside when the Hogwarts Express stopped with a last breath of steam. Sirius and James got off the train and heard someone shout: "First Years, this way please! Your luggage will be taken in the castle." They looked up and saw the biggest man they had ever seen. He wore a big brown beard and his eyes looked lost in his chubby face. He was almost a giant!  
Sirius and James followed the flow of the other students and they were soon on the banks of a dark and vast lake. On the other bank, they could see the shadows of a big castle with the lights of its windows.

The giant told the young wizards and witches to get in the small boats that were docked on the banks. The students, some of whom looked frightened, obeyed and James and Sirius chose a boat occupied by a tired-looking boy with a nice, rounded face.

"Can we?" asked James to the boy.

"Yeah, sure", the boy answered, and then he looked up at the moon shining in the empty sky below them. Strangely enough, he wore a worried expression at the full, round star.

"You don't reckon it's going to start raining now", Sirius said in an effort to make the boy more comfortable, now that himself had a friend.

"I hope it won't, because they say the mighty beast in the lake wakes up when it starts pouring", James giggled.

The boy gazed at James with this strange worried expression. James swore to himself never to make jokes again around this guy but the boy suddenly began to laugh.

"Ah-ah, that was a funny one!" This sudden laugh seemed a little bit exaggerated but when the boy looked again at James after wiping his eyes, his mirth seemed genuine. "I'm Remus", he added extending his hand to James.

"I'm James, and this is Sirius", James answered indicating the black-haired boy who had witnessed the scene without saying a word.

"Nice to meet you, you Moon-lover", he said while shaking hands with Remus.

"Yeah…Moon-lover…" Remus said, suddenly retrieving his concerned expression.

He didn't looked worried for long though, because they caught sight of a bigger spot of light in the lowest part of the castle, just below the surface of the lake.

"That's it! We're here!" Sirius said in a high-pitched voice, happy to be here at last.

The boats shored on the bank and the giant told the children to stay together and away from the bank.

"You never know, they can be hungry below…" he added in a surprisingly soft and touched voice.

"He said this as if they were little kittens!" James said in a strangled voice. "There are monsters in this lake!"

"And monsters are a lot more monster-ish when they are hungry!" Sirius added with a frightened grin that made Remus and James laugh.

"I think our friend over here is a bit of a chicken" Remus said laughing. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked imitating a monster trying to catch Sirius.

"Aaaah…stop this!" Sirius shrieked.

"You would make a good Hufflepuff", James commented with a mocking grin.

The students began to walk away from the shore as the giant lead them up a path, towards the entrance of the castle. They stayed at the foot of a staircase and heard the giant talk to someone. A stern-looking woman stood at the top of the staircase. She announced to the assembly of First-Years:

"My name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm the assistant headmaster of this school. You are to be sorted into your House. Please behave correctly while I lead you to the Great Hall." She paused and made a bow towards the giant. "Thank you, Hagrid; I'll see you at the banquet."

She then led the students up the staircase, through an enormous entrance hall. While she pushed the big oak doors to the Great Hall, James, Sirius and Remus found themselves walking side to side with Snivellus Snape and his beautiful friend.

They entered the Hall to find four large tables along which the assistant headmaster led them and stopped in front of another table facing them.

James and Sirius looked up and gaped at a dark sky filled up with shining stars. Remus took another worried look at the moon. Snivellus' friend noticed them three looking at the sky and said:

"That's an enchanted ceiling. I've read it in _Hogwarts: A History_."

James looked at the girl with his mouth still opened in awe, but closed it hastily when he noticed who was the girl talking. He then took his most charming smile and asked:

"And…what's your name?" He struggled not to add "beauty" at the end of his sentence.

"I'm Lily. And this is…" she gestured towards her friend.

"Snivellus Snape, the biggest prat I know" Sirius said before Lily could say a word.

Snape took a scornful look at Sirius but before he could answer to this provocation, McGonagall interrupted him:

"There we are, just stay there. I will call your names, and when I do so, you will step forward and put this hat on" she said pointing at a scruffy hat laid upon a stool, in the middle of the space between the students and the front table where the Headmaster and the teachers were sat.

James and Sirius looked at each other, relieved at the apparent easiness of the Sorting Ceremony. McGonagall began to call out names and James took advantage of it to bend towards Lily and whisper in his ear:

"I'm James. James Potter."

Lily did not answer but looked at James with an angry look.

The first students were sorted: McGonagall would simply put the hat on their heads and the hat would open a big mouth in its patch-up folds and cry out the name of one of the Houses. After a shy-looking girl was sent to Hufflepuff and a boy with a confident smile was sent to Ravenclaw, McGonagall announced:

"Black, Sirius."

Sirius felt his legs shaking and had to concentrate to step out of the crowd and walk the short way towards the hat. He sat on the stool and had time to get a glimpse of James and Remus smiling to him before the teacher put the hat on his head. It was so big that the hat's rim fell on Sirius face and he couldn't see anything.

He then heard a rough, low voice:

"Mmh…a Black…there's no doubt of it…SLY…"

"NOT SLYTHERIN" interrupted Sirius before the hat could finish the name. "Not Slytherin, please, not Slytherin…" he went on, almost praying.

"Not Slytherin, you say?" the hat answered, considering. "Well…let me see…you seem to be a brave young boy…You like your friends, mmh? I'm sure it could be a great thing for you…well then, GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius heard the cheers before McGonagall freed him of the hat and then saw James and Remus again, smiling broadly at him. He got up and felt his legs no longer shook. He was confident and walked back to the crowd of First-Years, smiling broadly himself. James gave him a pat on the back and said in a low voice so that only Remus and Sirius could hear: "I was sure of it. Just wait for us to join you and let's party!"

Sirius then walked towards one of the tables, where a red-haired boy and a plump red-haired girl were flirting, cuddling together as if there wasn't anyone except them at the table. A tall black boy walked towards Sirius, patted him on the back and said with an enthusiastic voice:

"Welcome to Gryffindor! You're the first to be sorted in Gryffindor this year, congratulations!"

Sirius smiled to the boy and sat on the bench. He looked at Remus, and then James, be sorted in Gryffindor and join the table, happy for them but unable to utter a word. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion, he could almost hear the fiddles in his head, playing a joyful tune. The couple was kissing in front of him, James was talking to everyone as if he had known them for years, showing his best side to impress Lily who had just been sorted in Gryffindor too, and the worried look on Remus had disappeared to be replaced by a genuine happiness.

Sirius, well, Sirius was overwhelmed with joy. I broke up with the tradition, he thought. I'm a brand new Black, I'm just…I'm Sirius, I just made friends with these funny guys and I'm free from my family at last. I AM A GRYFFINDOR!

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AN: So what do you think ? I felt more comfortable writing this one than the first chapter, and I think this is why this second chapter is much longer!  
I still have some problems with vocabulary, especially with synonyms for "say". I know this is not really a problem in English but I hate to repeat the same verbs again and I'm always checking the dictionary to find new verbs. Anyway, remind to tell me if there's any mistakes, it would be a great help!

I made some references to the other books, I know. Lily's explanation about the ceiling is exactly the same as Hermione's in Book 1. I did it coz to me, there's  
an obvious similarity between the two. I mean Lily is as hardworking and stubborn as Hermione. And I think she can be as direct and as "Miss-I-know-it-all" too.  
About the Lily/Snape thing, I followed your advice, GryffindoratHeart, but I didn't want to make it a cut/paste from the book so I decided to write it my own way.  
Hope it's good !

And what did you think about the Arthur/Molly Weasley reference ? Did you notice it was them I was talking about ? I hope I made it in a way it's obvious it's them but I didn'twant to say their names. It's just a funny reference and I don't think I'm gonna let them be characters in the rest of the story, I don't have anything to make them do (yet).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, keep reviewing and reading, make as many suggestions as you want and I'll come back soon with a brand new chapter !


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